Les Petits Meurtres d'Agatha Christie is a French comédie policière (comedic police crime drama) television programme consisting of two series based loosely on Agatha Christie's works of detective fiction, first broadcast on France 2 on 9 January 2009. In English-speaking countries, Series One is titled "The Little Murders of Agatha Christie" and Series Two is titled "Agatha Christie's Criminal Games". Series One takes place in the 1930s with Commissaire (approximately DCI) Larosière (Antoine Duléry) and Inspecteur Lampion (Marius Colucci). Series Two is set in the late 1950s through early 1960s with Commissaire Swan Laurence (Samuel Labarthe), journalist Alice Avril (Blandine Bellavoir), and Laurence's secretary, Marlène Leroy (Élodie Frenck). Series One streams with English subtitles in the United States on Acorn TV and MHz Choice, Series Two streams with English subtitles in the United States on MHz Choice and in Australia on SBS. The thirty-eight episodes to the end of Series Two include adaptations of thirty-six of Christie's works.
A third series, with a new cast and set in 1970s France, was announced in 2019 and released starting in 2021. Although the title bearing Christie's name remained, most of the episodes were original stories "in the spirit of Christie's works" because the producer felt that the remaining books would be "too difficult to adapt", or because of rights issues in some cases.
Contents
Series One: 1930s France (2009–2012)
Overview
Set in northern France in the 1930s, womanising and bombastic Commissaire Jean Larosière and his hapless junior officer Inspecteur Émile Lampion unravel a series of complicated murder cases to reveal the killers.
Cast and characters
Antoine Duléry as Commissaire Jean Larosière (11 episodes)
Marius Colucci as Inspecteur Émile Lampion (11 episodes)
Serge Dubois as police officer (policier) Ménard (9 episodes)
Olivier Carré as medical examiner (médecin légiste) Dr Verdure (5 episodes)
Series Two: mid-1950s to 1960s France (2013–2020)
Overview
The action has moved to mid-1950s to 1960s Lille, France. Suave, razor-sharp, arrogant, and intolerant – Commissaire Swan Laurence investigates murders with the often unappreciated assistance of reporter Alice Avril and police secretary Marlène Leroy.
Cast and characters
Samuel Labarthe as Commissaire Swan Laurence (27 episodes)
Blandine Bellavoir as La Voix du Nord journalist and feminist Alice Avril (27 episodes)
Élodie Frenck as Laurence's Marilyn Monroe-esque police secretary Marlène Leroy (27 episodes)
Dominique Thomas as Commissaire Divisionnaire Ernest Tricard (27 episodes)
Marie Berto as secretary then police officer Arlette Carmouille (5 episodes)
Cyril Gueï as medical examiner (médecin légiste) Dr Timothée Glissant (13 episodes)
Christophe Piret / François Godart as newspaper editor (rédacteur en chef) Robert Jourdeuil (2 / 15 episodes)
Natacha Lindinger as medical examiner Dr Euphrasie Maillol (4 episodes)
Éric Beauchamp as police "cop" (flic) Martin (16 episodes)
Bubulle as Marlène's goldfish Bubulle (27 episodes). Bubulle is a series of fishes kept in the office by Marléne. When each fish expires, Laurence, knowing Marléne's attachment, secretly replaces it with a new fish. In episode 26, Laurence remarks "Bubulle 4".
Series Three: 1970s France
A third series, with a new cast and set in France in the 1970s, was announced in 2019.
The first and third episodes are adaptations of, respectively, Endless Night and The Hollow. Other episodes are original stories; according to the producer, they are in the "spirit of Agatha Christie".
Overview
The third series is set in the 1970s, again in Lille, France. Commissaire Annie Gréco is aided by police inspector Max Beretta and psychologist Rose Bellecour.
Cast and characters
Émilie Gavois-Kahn as Commissaire Annie Gréco
Arthur Dupont as Inspector Maxime "Max" Beretta
Chloé Chaudoye as psychologist Rose Bellecour
Saverio Maligno as Inspector Râteau
Alexandre Russo as Inspector Cassard
Quentin Baillot as Commissaire divisionnaire Servan Legoff
Benoît Moret as medical examiner (médecin légiste) Jacques Blum
Nicolas Lumbreras as Bob, a hippie hotel owner
Christèle Tual as Barbara Bellecour, Rose's mother
Grégoire Oestermann as Arnaud Bellecour, Rose's father
